If you have a drainage emergency in SW1, help is normally under 90 minutes away. Our engineers cover Westminster, Victoria, Pimlico and Belgravia and everything nearby, at any hour, 365 days a year.
What we cover in SW1
The area we cover in SW1 spans Westminster, Victoria, Pimlico and Belgravia, part of City of Westminster. As we also attend the adjoining areas, a run crossing a boundary needs only one contractor.
Westminster, Victoria, Pimlico and Belgravia are largely stucco terraces and mansion blocks, much of it listed. Deep basements and lightwell gullies mean surface water and foul waste often meet in confined space below street level.
Common causes in SW1
Throughout SW1, the usual culprits are:
- Foul water coming up through a chamber
- Nothing draining anywhere in the property
- Foul water backing into a ground-floor shower or bath
- Surface water with nowhere to go
Signs worth reporting
What you are likely to be seeing around SW1:
- Water sitting in a drain outside long after use
- More than one appliance backing up, not just one
- Bubbling in the pan as another appliance drains
- Foul odour around a chamber that is stronger in warm weather
How the visit works
Finding the cause comes before clearing it:
- You get an honest time, not an optimistic one
- Stop using water in the property until we arrive
- Most emergencies are resolved in one visit
- We are straight about whether clearing is enough
Before we arrive
Useful steps before we arrive:
- Hold off on taps, showers and appliances, particularly appliances on a timer
- Cordon off contaminated ground
- Clear access to the drain covers if you can
- Jot down what is draining and what is not when you ring
Who pays for the repair
A blockage is not automatically your bill. Shared drains and laterals transferred to the water company in England in 2011, so a fault out in the road is not yours to fund. We establish which side of the line the fault sits and tell you plainly, including when the answer is that you should call Thames Water instead.
What it costs in SW1
Emergency attendance starts at a fixed £120 plus VAT, and we never charge for coming out. Prices are fixed rather than hourly, so a difficult job in SW1 does not become an expensive surprise.